For the third year running, the Texans under Gary Kubiak are behaving in December like they want to play into February.

The best week in franchise history — a fiery romp past Jacksonville in the franchise’s Monday-night debut, followed by an icy triumph on Green Bay’s tundra — has at least returned them to the playoff conversation down the road. Still, just as less-than-stellar Septembers-to-Novembers doomed Houston in 2006 and 2007, the story line three-peated despite the team’s hottest start yet in the season’s coldest month.

Kubiak has an 8-4 record in December compared to Dom Capers’ 4-14, a mammoth improvement by any measure. Otherwise, though, the Texans’ progress has been less conspicuous: 12-21 for Kubiak (.364) to Caper’s 15-32 (.319).

What gives?

“I’ve been asked that a lot recently,” Kubiak said. “I don’t know the answer. We all know what kind of start we got off to this year, with the three road games and the (quality of) the four teams we played. It was difficult because of the hurricane with (the players’) families having problems at home. But there are no excuses in this league. Being consistent is always the key to success, to getting where you want to go.”

Kubiak also cautioned about getting excessively exuberant about the Texans’ charge. December, he reminds, is far from over, and the team with the best record in the NFL, the 12-1 Tennessee Titans, visits Reliant Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

“We’ve played well recently,” he said, “but let’s see how things play out at the end.”

Bad timing

The last time the Texans had to prepare for the Titans, their mindset couldn’t have been much worse. They’d been embarrassed in the opener at Pittsburgh, then spent the following weekend coping with the distracting personal upheaval wrought by the fury of Hurricane Ike. Not surprisingly, the trip to Nashville didn’t go swimmingly, either.

Rookie running back Steve Slaton showed what was ahead for him with his 116 yards rushing, but three Matt Schaub interceptions and repeated failures in the Titans’ red zone — likely Pro Bowl-bound Andre Johnson dropped two almost-certain touchdown passes — turned what could have been a winnable game into a 31-12 debacle.

The overtime heartbreaker in Jacksonville followed, then that historic fourth-quarter collapse against Indianapolis at Reliant, when a 27-10 lead late in the fourth quarter failed to hold up because of two fumbles and an interception by backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels. So there the Texans forlornly sat, 0-4 and seemingly done for with October not yet half gone.

“It was some tough sledding,” Schaub said.

A three-game winning streak briefly buoyed everyone’s spirits — never mind that two of the victories came at the expense of the NFL’s two worst teams, Detroit and Cincinnati — but three more disheartening losses followed. At 3-7, it wasn’t unreasonable to believe the Texans would lower their sails.

“We were humbled,” Johnson admitted. “Things definitely hadn’t gone as planned. I think maybe we got ahead of ourselves talking about the playoffs and all that before the season started. The important thing is, we didn’t quit.”

Dare to stare down Titans

Now, reborn as postseason contenders — in 2009 — the Texans are daring to stare down the Titans as perceived equals, never mind that six games separate the teams in the standings, or that Houston has dropped seven in a row in the lopsided series between the city’s dearly departed franchise and its replacement.

When Kubiak says of the previous pre-Tennessee preparations, “That seems like such a long time ago,” it’s because of how far the Texans appear to have come. Consider that the offense gained 551 yards against the Steelers and the Titans combined — two more than was accumulated in Green Bay.

However, a stat where there’s much less contrast is the turnover count. The Texans coughed up six in the first two games, compared with five against Jacksonville and Green Bay.

“It’s not like we’ve arrived yet,” Kubiak warned, although he did say, despite the ongoing turnover angst, “We’ve done a good job of focusing ourselves and trying to improve as individuals and as a football team.”

Several players said their respect for Kubiak has a lot to do with why they don’t roll over late after stumbling early.

“It’s obvious we believe strongly in our coach,” left guard Chester Pitts said. “He cares more about our franchise and our team more than you can put into words. Every week he puts his heart and soul into preparing us.”

Right idea about practice

Right tackle Eric Winston also suggested that Kubiak’s attitude about practice late in the year has contributed to the Texans’ December surges.

“He does an awesome job of pulling back a little bit, taking the pads off and not hitting so much,” Winston said. “You got a lot of teams out there still in full pads on Wednesdays and Thursdays. You go ask those players if they need it and every single one of them will say no. And (strength coach) Dan Riley’s weight program is built to last you over the whole season, not be great in July and bad in November.